My Week #12, a note about #13 and an apology

Greetings humans! 

Week #12 was rather run-of-the mill, busy but absolutely fine...

...or so I thought. I had open days on Monday and Tuesday, and from then onwards, without wishing to say too much, I descended into a Total Mess (hence no photo). I realised that this had been building up for a couple of weeks, and I'm hoping I'll feel a bit better soon. An apology is due, because my attempts to post have been absolutely atrocious recently. I have a few posts lined up though, so hopefully everything should improve.

I hope you had a better fortnight than me(!)

My Week #11

Greetings humans!

This week has been so busy. I had my half-an-hour-long EPQ presentation on Monday, tonnes of revision to do, and my theory test yesterday (I passed!). I then was let loose in Paperchase, which as we all know can only go extremely well. One of the best parts of my week was definitely going to see The Bible: the complete word of God (abridged) on Wednesday - thoroughly enjoyable!

Apologies for the poor photo quality, I've not the slightest idea as to what's going on with it.

I hope you had a good week!

Setting Up a Ring-Bound Planner

Greetings humans!

Today I thought I'd share with you a few tips as to how to set up a ring-bound organiser. I don't really remember when I did this, since I've had a ring bound organiser of some kind for over ten years now and I've only recently discovered the online planning community. Anyway...

Lists!

I'd really recommend listing what you need in a planner before doing anything else. Diary? Diaries? Lots of notes pages or to-do lists? Thinking about what you need is especially important with a ring-bound planner since you want to fit as much useful stuff in there as you can without making it bulky with all the things you don't really need or use. 

The Diary

Definitely give this special consideration. How will you use the diary? Just for appointments or for your to-do lists or as a journal as well? I use four diaries: Month on Two Pages, Week on One Page, Week on Two Pages and a Day per Page. It may seem like overkill, but it all works for me. 

The Pen

This may seem like a little detail, but honestly, the right pen can be make or break for a planner. I prefer Muji 0.5mm gel pens (both normal and erasable), but it's up to you. I use erasable pens for plans so if they change then I can just rub the entry out. 

Accessories

Welcome to the internet, where everyone else has all the pretty stickers which you think would look SO GREAT in your planner. And they probably would. But the thing is, do they work for you? I'm thankfully emerging from the "I Need Everything" phase now, but similarly to diary inserts, think about what's actually useful. I've used a WO2P insert for what seems like forever for my day-to-day planning, just because firstly my family, and then the internet, was full of people using that system. But now I'm using a Day per Page and that's working out for the best. Similarly, massive(ly cute) post-it notes and other such frivolities began to hinder, not help, my planning. Here are some of the products that I use now, and enjoy using:

So, there are a few tips as to how to set up a ring-bound planner. Has anyone else got any more tips? Please post in the comments!

My Week #10

Greetings humans!

Another week, another post. I'm determined to schedule some more posts this weekend and get my blogging mojo back! I thought I'd take advantage of that strange ball of fire in the sky and photograph my planner outside, since I haven't been outside the house since Friday afternoon. 

I hope you had a good week!

My Week #9

Greetings humans!

This week as been super-busy since it's the first week back and we're definitely pushed in at the deep end; I didn't realise how much time I had over the holiday!

Nothing very exciting happened, it's just been full of revision and essays. I did go out for dinner on Friday night, but aside from that very little socialising occurred (because I am clearly a party animal. Amirite?)

I also made a conscious effort to try and write a bit more neatly, and I chose the washi tape in the hope that it would make these dreary winter days a little more exciting. 

I hope you had a good week!

My Week #8

Greetings humans!

So, this week was half term, and therefore a free week with which I could do ALL THE REVISION! Right? Well, sort of. In the midst of all the revision I've done, I've forgotten about the Actual Homework that I was set at the end of last term. Today involves a tonne of manic essay-writing and coursework-editing, since I am clearly very...organised...*crawls into hole*

My Week #7

Greetings humans!

Sorry for the lateness of this post, but yesterday was jam-packed full of revision for me and by the end of it I was too tired to articulate simple sentences in real life, let alone write a blog post!

Anyway, here's my week:

It looks so blank because it's been so busy! I've had the school play, various volunteering meetings to attend and the consequences of the teachers' "oh it's half term, you'll have plenty of time to do ALL OF THIS HOMEWORK I'LL SET YOU" attitude (which is to be honest only irritating since I can't get as much revision done as I'd like). On Friday I went to Nando's with some of my fellow single friends to celebrate Valentine's day with chicken, which could never be a bad thing.

I hope you had a good week!

My Week #6...and a few changes

Greetings humans!

So, just to give you an idea of how well my life is going at the moment:

I didn't even decorate last week's weekly pages, I did next to nothing in terms of revision, and I had three significant deadlines thrown at me. My daily pages aren't much better, and the only things written in my A5 are "blog post" and "my week #6", which were written in at the beginning of the year. 

So, what's going wrong?

My first answer is EVERYTHING(!!!!!!!!), since I'm now in serious panic mode about my exams and breaking down in tears about every day (who needs emotional stability anyway?!). This is probably why I haven't been using my filofaxes as I usually do - I'm too preoccupied with worry than to actually do anything about it. I've tried, though. For instance, I've created some rather complicated tick sheets for my History coursework, and I've been completing work and handing it in way before deadlines. I'm feeling a bit better and I've given myself a bit of a weekend off (read: I've spent two days solid doing actual coursework and work set as opposed to self-determined revision).

I've also changed back into my Songbird. I'm not sure if there's some kind of sentimental comfort in it, or if it's just because the colours are lighter and it lies flat. In addition, my Filofaxes which I'm trying to use on a regular basis are now on my desk so I actually see them and therefore use them (also some very exciting new sticky notes can be seen on top of the boxes):

Right, I'm off to go and decorate my diary pages to my heart's content and write everything in pretty colours in an attempt to feel a bit better. That always works, right? Right.

My Week #5

Greetings humans!

This week I did another "oh-let's-not-look-at-my-Filofax", which means I got nothing done and had a lot to do this weekend. I've finished most of my work now, with a couple of essays to proofread, so I thought I'd take a break.

The week itself, although busy, wasn't particularly eventful. I went to see the NT Live broadcast of Coriolanus at my local cinema on Thursday, which was absolutely brilliant. Unfortunately I can't see any more Shakespeares on their website, although I did find out this week (slow, I know) that Benedict Cumberbatch will be playing Hamlet sometime this autumn in London. I was dancing for the rest of the day (Hamlet. Hamlet. HAMLET.)

Since I barely used my planner this week, especially my A5 at home, I've used each day to house to-do lists for separate subjects this weekend. 

My Week #4

Greetings humans!

This week has been very busy but also fabulous, since on Monday I received an offer from my top choice university *dances*. I'm really enjoying using my WO2P as a notes page, since it's so easy to find what I'm looking for (this is starting to sound like an infomercial, isn't it?).

My Week #3

Greetings humans!

*obligatory comment about oh no time is going so quickly ahhh noo EXAMS NO NO ahh panic panic*

I've worked out how I'm now using my WO2P inserts - as day-specific notes pages. For instance, this week I had a meeting about the school play, the notes from which I simply wrote down in the allotted day. After only using it for a week, I feel like I've got myself together and know what's going on. 

This week I managed to get a lot of my work done at school, although some items (such as coursework) were unavoidable at home.

Bring on week four!

My Week #2

Greetings humans!

I can't believe we've finished week two of 2014 already - what doesn't help is that I only have four more weeks at school until February half term, after which I'll only have eleven and a half weeks until my first exam*

It's been seriously busy this week - I've had two major deadlines which still caused a pinch point even though I had been working on the essays over the Christmas break too. My workload lessened towards the end of the week, where I planned and did some revision instead. Now about half of my major projects are out of the way, I can focus on some serious revision for the summer exams.

Since I've moved from a WO2P this year to a DPP for my daily planning, I'm still getting to grips with how exactly I'm using the former. Therefore, in its place this week I'll show you a typical day on my DPP inserts.

My plan regarding this blog is to post twice a week. However, I ran into a practical problem when I realised that I left the house in the dark and got back in the dark on weekdays, meaning I had no decent light with which to take any photographs. Something to work on for next time!

*to be fair this is partly my fault, since I completely messed up an exam last year and have chosen to do a re-sit. Without this, it'd be fourteen weeks until my first exam.

My Week #1

Greetings humans!

I've chosen to take part in paperlovestory's "My Week" posts, since this year has a lot lined up for me (last year of school, university, turning 18, the usual stuff).

I've decided to show you my Personal WO2P and my A5 WO2P - although they are very similar now, they will become more different as I start back at school again tomorrow.

In case you're new to my blog (in which case, "Hello!" *waves*), here is what I use each planner for:

• My Personal binder comes with me at all times, and I have a MO2P, WO1P, WO2P and DPP diary in there (hence, not much day-to-day planning goes on in my WO2P. It's more for general daily themes, goals, something that doesn't fit in my DPP [yes, it's happened, and I've only been using them for four days]). 
• My A5 binder stays at home and looks after any tasks than need to be worked on or completed at home. I use a separate binder for this since I do most of my work at school so I struggle to focus at home with the same binder (this one also holds blog planning, some extra-curricular reading and a revision plan for school).

In my Personal this week, I began with planning my days out with to-dos (since by DPP didn't begin until the first). I then wrote down some resolutions before planning what I was going to do with my planning for the rest of my week. I'm disappointed with how messy this week was, but I like the colour scheme.

In my A5, it's a lot neater. Here I also keep track of my blog posts in the WO2P*, and anything else that springs to mind. Come the new term, I will also be using this insert to plan when I'm revising what. I know it may seem like overkill to have two binders with similar/the same information, but I've been a lot more productive with this setup than I was before!

So, there's my first "My Week" of 2014. It's scary to think that at the end of Week #25 I'll have finished my A2 Exams...*panics and runs*

*(I don't keep that in anything that comes to school with me - when I'm stressed the last thing I want is "oooh you do a bloooooooog wow that's so sad/cool/...individual". Yes, I am in my final year of secondary education and yes, people will still pick up my Filofax and peruse it at their leisure)

Double trouble!

Greetings humans!

Today I want to share a little set-up change with you. There's a bigger one coming in the new year, but for now...

I'm using a satellite and home binder. My A5 from Paperchase wasn't getting much love, and my productivity levels were slipping as it is, so I thought I'd use it for things I need to get done at home. This is something I've found difficult recently, since I stay at school to do homework so I'm not used to working at home so much. I've been using this setup for a week and it's actually going quite well - they're not 100% synced, but I've got a lot more done, and that can't be a bad thing! Another positive with this set-up is that I've managed to clear out my Personal, meaning that it's not as heavy or difficult to close. Result! Now I keep my blog planning, wish lists and other information in my A5, which also has the advantage of nobody secretly snooping at it whilst I'm at school (yes, yes, it still happens).

As I mentioned, I've done some blog post planning. But more on that later!

Paper Planning vs. Digital Planning (Sixth Form Edition)

Greetings humans!

So, at the end of half term, I thought I'd try something new. Digital planning. That's right, I considered using my phone to plan my schoolwork. Anyhow, long story short, it didn't happen and I carried on using my Filofax anyway. Here are both of my systems and why I ended up failing miserably in this endeavour:

Filofax

If you follow me on Instagram (*ahem* hannahburley *ahem*) you've probably seen these camper van tabs a million times already - as explained here, I have one for each subject and one for my EPQ.

The first page of each tab is a summary of the A2 specification, just so I know how far I have left to progress through the course and for easy reference when playing the "which topic are we going to be taught next" game. (Note: this is not a real game and it should be made apparent at this stage that I don't get out very much).

The next page is where I record all of my homework set with Task, Completed, Date Set and Date Due. (Just realised that I haven't ticked off an essay that was done over two weeks ago - I should probably do that...). Aside from the aforementioned mistake, this keeps me on track and it's useful to see what I have left to do, not to mention I really enjoy ticking tasks off of to-do lists.

Here's the other side of that list and a graph I've drawn where I track my essay marks. The green line is at 90% - as you can see I'm far off of that (and even more so recently) although I'm aiming towards it; if I get a horrible question in the exam then I should still do well enough to get the grades I'd like. Hopefully.

I use the pages in my WO2P diary to record to-dos for the day. I find I work best in small chunks of various subjects, as opposed to focusing on just one or two solidly for a day.

The only deadlines that I record in my diary pages are my EPQ ones; since it's so self-directed, I often forget about them if they're just left in my EPQ section. Here's the deadline for everything but the presentation - the bit I'm looking forward to the most!

Digital

A good three or so years ago, probably around the time I had just started using Filofaxes again for my social (ha) life, I downloaded an app called iStudiez Pro for around £1.99. I decided to revitalise it and put in all my classes for this year, to see whether it would work for me at school.

A calendar: the coloured dots are for each lesson I have that day.

Assignments: where they all appear. As you can see, this experiment went really, really well.

So, why didn't I use this? Well, here are the reasons:

• Although I'm in sixth form, it's still in a school as opposed to a college, and we're not allowed our phones out in lessons. Therefore, I may end up having to wait around two hours to put an assignment in, since I am the most unsubtle person in the world and would struggle to do so on the sly.
• I'm a creature of habit. Even if I wanted to get my phone out and make a note of my homework, I'd still get my Filofax out without thinking.
• If something is on my phone, it doesn't feel *real*, or like an actual commitment. On the contrary, on paper it feels like some kind of legally binding contract with myself, meaning that I need to get it done.
• Time and effort - it took me about an hour to fill in my timetable on iStudiez Pro. It took me fifteen minutes to make one on Word, print it out and put it in my Filofax. Easy winner.

Which method do you think works best? Paper or pixels?

UCAS (in my Filofax)

Greetings humans!

Sorry for not posting in a while; I've been swamped with work and have been putting the final touches to my UCAS application. Today I want to share with you how I've organised the latter.

It's got its own little sub-section, which I've tabbed with a Martha Stewart x Avery tab and a cute owl sticker from Paperchase. On the front page I just placed some washi tape and wrote over it with permanent marker.

When it's opened up, the first page is a (very messy, so I won't show you) to-do list page, and then my login and a timeline. Of course, I've hidden the details, but I've written my username, Personal ID (it's amazing how quickly one can learn that off by heart when Track's being checked every other second) and the answers to my security questions, since I always forget them. Then, I have the school's timeline for our applications (I haven't applied to Oxbridge/for medicine or veterinary science, but our school ask for them to be in super early because although it's not meant to, the chances are it'll give you an advantage).

On the back of that page I'm keeping a log of my application, so the date it was processed, the date I received my welcome pack (which is hardly a pack, more a piece of paper telling you where you've applied and for which course), and a record of any offers I've received (I got my first one yesterday lunchtime - yay!). Not only does this put my mind at ease, but I can also then compare the offer(s) and consider where I wish to put as my firm/insurance choice nearer the time.

I also have this checklist for what to include in the personal statement. Obviously some of these are paraphrased (eg. "Why I'm so bloody brilliant") but I found it really handy to have a structure to follow when writing it. Of course, there is no one set formula for a good personal statement; these are just tips I have picked up from various open days/humans who have done this before/school.

So there you have it, the UCAS section of my Filofax. I can't believe it's ten and a half months until I should be leaving home for uni!

How I Organise My Filofax Supplies

Greetings humans!

Today I thought I'd share with you how I organise the supplies I use in my Filofax. Even though this isn't a Filo-specific blog, I decided not to show you my folders/refill pads/pens because they're on shelves/in pen pots respectively and I don't do anything spectacular with those. These supplies, however, are in boxes and stretchy folder things (there I go with those technical terms again), which are infinitely more exciting than shelves, right?

This is the main box in which I keep my bits and bobs - I believe it was bought in a pack of many from Costco. A couple of weeks ago, it was almost empty...and now it's almost full. Oops?

Here's the inside. As you can see, some items are stored loosely, and some are stored in more boxes. Regardless of anything, it's all packed in some kind of warped, 3D, stationery tetris. The loose items include packs of sticky notes and to-do lists, craft papers (for making dividers) and some magnetic bookmarks. 

One of the first storage containers that I use is this Cath Kidston tin. Inside, I keep some mini paper tapes from Paperchase and fashion paperclips from Wilkinson and Tiger.

Then, I have this Really Useful Box. In here are sticky notes, stickers and mini-notepads, sourced from a variety of stores. I used to use a couple of these to store my pens (until my collection went out of control) and they're stackable, which is handy for saving desk space.

Another Box! This was bought in a pack of three from Family Bargains (think 99p stores, Poundland etc), and the lid barely stays on, which is not ideal, even though it sits in a box most of the time. Here are just sticky notes, memo pads and notelets (which I got from The Range's clearance isle - always worth a check). 

I also use Filofaxes and other ring-bound organisers to store stuff. I bought a first edition Flex from Homsense for £7.99 in which I keep stickers and a record of the washi tape I have. In my Paperchase organiser I keep spare inserts, since it was starting to get a bit worn and I don't want it to break with constant use!

Now, not everything fits in my Pink Box of Wonder. I keep sticker sheets and washi tape in separate containers.

Tape! This is a box, about half the size of a shoebox, which I was given for my birthday (it's from Tiger). I just put a bit of washi on the lid to let me know what was in it, just in case I forget(?!)

This is an expanding sticker folder. An expanding folder for my stickers. (Really not much else to say, right?) There is the potential to customise the tabs, but my sticker supply is in constant rotation so it would probably be a waste of time.

I hope you found this post vaguely interesting, and that it may have given you some inspiration as to how to store anything paper-y.

A Filofax...for EVERYTHING?

Greetings humans!

Many members of the Filofax (and other similar planners) community use their organiser for absolutely everything, from diaries to shopping lists and from internet passwords to keeping track of their finances. Incredibly convenient, you know where everything is, you won’t leave the house and then kick yourself for forgetting something in your other organiser (which has happened to me more than once), and it’s considerably cheaper to run. It’s great to have everything in one place - apparently.

The thing is, I’m not really sure if this is something that I would be willing to do. In terms of practicality, it wouldn’t work for me because there’d be hardly enough room for EVERYTHING I’d need/want in there, since an A4 probably wouldn’t cover it and I’m not carrying one of those everywhere with me if I don’t have to! But there’s another reason as to why I’m sceptical - security.

I’m sure you’ve probably heard of the 1990 film ‘Taking Care of Business’, where an advertising executive’s Filofax is found by a crook who then manages to steal his identity and live his life, all with great comic effect (apparently). Although this is very unlikely to happen in reality, if you keep absolutely everything in your Filofax, and then lose it, how much of your private information may be compromised? The chances are that if someone found it they’d try and return it to you (even if it is just for the free gift that Filofax offers upon the return of registered organisers) but not all humans are nice creatures and not everyone can be trusted.

Furthermore, what about you in the meantime? If I mislaid my main Filofax, which is used to plan my school/social life (since that’s how I spend most of my time), I could probably cope by asking my friends what homework was set and when we were next meeting up outside of school. If I lost my finance Filo, I’d probably be a bit more worried, but I have online banking and if any personal data was in there, I could simply call the bank and explain my situation. If my internet planning organiser went missing, then I could probably pull from my memory what was on there, and most of the ideas would probably be duff anyway. If, however, all of this was in a single Filofax and I lost that, I’m not sure how well I’d be able to cope. Yes, if I did lose an ‘everything’ Filofax, I could do all of the above simultaneously and I doubt there would be much of a problem. However, that would mean that the school I go to, my place of work (if I can find a job!), my personal details, my financial details, my thought processes, the exact locations of my appointments, my health details and much more could fall into the hands of someone else. As I said, not all humans are nice creatures and not everyone can be trusted.

I appreciate that I have an incredibly cynical view of humanity. Losing my Filofax would be very unlikely to happen (I’d like to think!), and identity fraud even more so, but isn’t it better to be safe rather than sorry? What do you reckon?

The Magic Notebook Haul - Stickers!

Greetings humans! Recently I found out about this company called The Magic Notebook. They're based in Cambridge and specialise in Japanese and Korean stationery. As a "well done, you've finished your AS levels and you're still alive" present to myself, I ordered some stickers to use in my organiser and used the adamsfilo promo code which meant MORE STICKERS (offer ends 30th June) (also check out his internet presence - it's fab!).  I placed my order on Tuesday and it got here today - Thursday. How's that for great service?

The envelope was sealed with this tape, which I thought was a lovely touch.

Upon opening the envelope, I was greeted with my order wrapped in a translucent envelope, also sealed by some patterned tape - I soon peeled this off and decorated my diary with it! 

These are the two items I paid for - they are fabric-effect stickers by the brand Dailylike, and the two editions I purchased were "My Memory" and "Blooming". At £3.75 each, considering there are six sheets of stickers per pack, with shapes ranging from rectangular to circular, I thought these were reasonably priced. 

These are other items included with my order - the geometric stickers are E2 Deco, and came in violet, lilac, red, green, yellow (x2), light blue and hot pink (these were as a result of the adamsfilo promo code - thanks again!) and I am unsure of the brand of the wildlife stickers - very lovely, though.

Overall, I am incredibly pleased with my order from The Magic Notebook, and I will not hesitate to do so again!